Aliens in America

Next month, the CW television network launches a show called “Aliens in America”. It’s a sitcom about a foreign exchange student from Pakistan who’s a Muslim. Many American Muslims are thrilled to see a multi-dimensional Muslim character on TV who has nothing to do with terrorism. [ Listen to the show ]

Raja Musharaff is a Pakistani Muslim exchange student coming to America this fall.

He’s not coming to join a terrorist cell, open a kabob shop or become a taxi driver. On the contrary, as one of the lead roles on “Aliens in America,” Raja is more than an amicable 16-year-old, he also emerges as a moral compass to his host family in Wisconsin. The show premieres Oct. 1 on the CW Network.

“We wanted to bring a character who had a sense of his own faith, and who had a strong relationship with God, into this family that really doesn’t have one,” said David Guarascio, one of the producers. “Maybe this family has lost its way a little bit and the character who has a spiritual sense of himself can help them find their way.”

To many Muslim Americans who say film and television depictions of Muslims are almost uniformly negative, the idea that a mainstream network is introducing an empathetic follower of Islam — as well as exploring Americans’ own prejudices — is welcome news.

“The fact that Raja’s the moral conscience of the show, that’s probably a first on American television for any sort of Muslim character,” said Edina Lekovic, a spokeswoman with the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles.